Park History
www.parkworld-online.com
Left: Wolfgang Schäuble with Franz and Roland Mack at the first opening of Piraten in Batavia in January 1987.
Franz Mack with the Eurosat model
the American zone of Frankfurt with a showman. After the currency reform, he returned to Waldkirch and married. In 1948, Franz and his brothers, Hermann and Willi, took over responsibility for their father’s wagon and carousel factory in Waldkirch, which was founded in 1780. The operating facilities were relocated to a new, spacious site, where the globe featuring a stagecoach and the slogan “The wide world is my field” became a symbol of the workmanship from Mack. The company delivered not only residential and sales vehicles, but also special vehicles that were needed for carousel rides, go-kart tracks and multi-storey ghost trains. Countless ride innovations, such as the ‘Wild Mouse’, ‘Swiss Bob Run’, ‘Music Express’, ‘Munich Ski Slopes’ and ‘Petersburg Sleigh Ride’ come from the successful family company from the Black Forest. “Many copies of them have been sold around the world,” said a spokesperson. Today, the Mack company continues to build upon a multitude of technical achievements that owe their development to the inventiveness of the entrepreneur Franz Mack. Over time, Franz Mack opened up the European, Anglo-Saxon and North American markets. Today Mack Rides has strong representation in China and the entire Asian region. Franz, together with his son Roland, was the founder of Europa-Park, which opened its doors in Rust on 12 July 1975. During a trip to the USA, he and Roland Mack came up with the
SPRING PART 1 2021
Liesel and Franz Mack
idea of building a theme park. Many facilities and rides that attract visitors from all over the world are still new concepts developed at the Waldkirch parent plant. “Europa-Park is now the largest seasonal theme park in the world and the undisputed market leader in Germany,” said a spokesperson. The Mack Group currently employs over 5,000 people. Thanks to his passion for technology, numerous rides in the park bear the signature of Franz Mack. He designed the ‘Eurosat’ rollercoaster, which opened in 1989, as well as the ’Euro-Mir’ high-speed rollercoaster that went into operation in 1997 and features the iconic tower lift, a feature that generated a lot of attention in the industry. Despite already being into old age, Franz developed the model himself.
In addition to his entrepreneurial activity, Franz was involved in a large number of honorary positions, such as a position on the supervisory board of Volksbank Waldkirch, on the standards committee of the temporary buildings of the TÜV and as an arbitrator in the Association of German Leisure Entrepreneurs. Franz Mack was also sponsor of numerous clubs and
27 Europa-Park
is now the largest seasonal theme park in the world and the undisputed market leader in Germany.
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